Um, Wait, But How Is Captain America In 'Spider-Man'?!

Marvel has some explaining to do. With the release of the new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer on Tuesday, fans may have some new questions. Like, will Peter Parker (Tom Holland) ultimately defeat Vulture (Michael Keaton)? How easy will Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) actually be on his protégé Peter? Where's Peter's famous love interest Mary Jane Watson? However, there are also some questions I wasn't expecting, like how is that Captain America cameo in Spider-Man: Homecoming possible after the events of the last MCU film?

In 2016's Captain America: Civil War, Captain America AKA Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is forced to go on the run after his opposition of the Sokovia Accords, and support of his fugitive friend Bucky, led to him surrendering his shield. The movie ended with Steve breaking into a high security prison to release the other Avengers that were caught up in the war between himself and Iron Man AKA Tony Stark, leaving most of the team as internationally wanted fugitives. So what's Steve doing popping up in a fitness video in this trailer? There are a lot of questions to be asked here.

First thing's first, it's clear that Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place after Civil War. In the trailer, Tony takes Peter under his wing and mentors him after their meeting in Civil War. When Captain America appears in Homecoming, Peter references the time (again in Civil War) that Peter met him and "stole his shield." So there are no chronological twists here. Just the remaining question: why?

Here's what happens. Peter and his classmates are watching an old fitness video titled "Captain America's Fitness Challenge," clearly old due to the fact that Steve is wearing a version of his costume that hasn't been seen since the first Avengers movie. The Captain America in the video is clearly portrayed by Chris Evans, rather than some random actor building off his brand. But, again, this raises the question of why Peter's public school is showing an old fitness video starring a man who is currently wanted in 117 countries at least.

I mean, Marvel-verse left off with Captain America in some pretty deep sh*t — not exactly the type of figure who would be a good role model for kids right now. He's obstructed the federal government, aided and abetted with a wanted assassin, and was involved in the Avengers' massive jail break. The last thing might be relatively unknown, but the first two things happened very publicly.

Like very publicly. So why would a video like this be shown to high school kids when it's pretty safe to say that Captain America's pedestal has been knocked down? Of course, there are some potential answers. There could have been a massive international coverup. Perhaps the governments of the world don't want people knowing that Captain America is a wanted criminal, or that they're searching for him. Or maybe Peter's school is very firmly on team #IBelieveInSteveRogers. Either way, here's hoping we get some answers in the film itself.

Meanwhile, let's not pretend we weren't all pumped about Captain America's appearance.

When Spider-Man: Homecoming premieres on July 7.